>> this is the journal coming to you live from d.w. here in berlin. thanks for joining us. coming up, separatists in eastern ukraine hold their controversial vote on self-rule condemned by kiev and the west as ill get mat. mercedes power ahead with another victory in the spanish grand pee. wurstag question conchita uses her victory to send a message to vladimir putin.

separatist leaders in eastern ukraine say turnout was high for sunday's controversial vote on splitting away from kiev. with no independent observers allowed to monitor the pole, there's no way to verify the claims but activists say turnout was around 70%. some violence has been reported. the e.u. has announced it will not recognize the results. this report. >> blots -- ballots at voting stations like this but the process was haphazard with few identity checks and an absence of independent observers. even moscow has distanced itself from the vote. this man appeared to vote several times. this man declared himself the leader of the people's republic of donetsk.

he's hailed the vote as a success. >> the legitimacy is reflected out. large for now we're awaiting the official reaction, especially from our brothers in russia. >> in the eastern city of maruipol, people waited in long lines to clash their ballots. a number of people died in clashes there on friday. the majority who voted voted in favor of breaking away from kiev. maruiupol e of understand they must vote for the referendum. look at all these people. are you in favor of the donetsk people's republic? [cheers] >> ukraine's interim government and western powers have called the vote illegal and their focus is turning to the national election set for may 25.

>> joining us now is or our rrespondent kitty logan from donetsk. the separatist leader is saying he'll regard kiev's force as occupiers after the vote. what do you make of that? >> he made those statements this afternoon while the polls were still open. they have just closed. not surprisingly this is very much a referendum run by the donetsk republic for its supporters. everybody we met at the poling station today said they voted in support of the referendum. the people who didn't agree with the referendum simply didn't show up. many polling station is were improvised. there are areas where ukrainians

didn't want the vote to take place but the separatists held it anyway. we don't know if the turnout is as high as is being claimed. >> there have been some reports of fighting today. can we expect that to get worse if school districtry is announced tomorrow? >> it's certainly very tense in several places in a town just northwest of donetsk, there has been a standoff and we have reports that one person has been killed there in clashes. over a fight over the governmental building in the town. there was a storage of polling tations that led to a lot of tension. we do expect to get the results in the afternoon and yes, i think it will lead -- lead to more tension. there are a lot of people who won't be happy with it, although there was a great deal of support for the separatists today at the polls.

>> what did you witness today? were there only supporters taking part? >> it did seem to be the case in most place, that the people who came out to vote were the people who rm very much pro-russia and wanted to use this opportunity to voice their opinion against the government in kiev. in other places, pro-ukrainian, it was surprising how many people came out to support the separatists. people are frustrated with the high unemployment and want some kind of change. it's a simple yes on the ballot whether they want insurance. independence.want that i don't know what's behind that >> kitty logan there in donetsk. well, the polls have closed and vote counting is under way in

lithuania's presidential election. incumbent dalia grybauskaite is widely expected to win a second term in a landslide. she may get a 50% majority in the first round of voting opinion polls suggest. she's been nicknamed the iron lady for her outspoken style and strong criticism of moscow. she has rented rush eyre's annexation of crimea. at least 40 people have drowned after a boat sank off the coast of libya. a spokesman for the interior of ministry said the boat was carrying sub-saharan migrants when it went down east of terrorismly. at least 50 passengers were rescued. t's often used as a gateway to

europe. islamist insurgents have killed 20 iraqi soldiers in an overnight attack on the military barracks around of mose you will. most of the soldiers were tied up and then shot at close range. in the capital, bag damage -- baghdad, a car bomb killed at least three civilians and wounded more than a dozen. iran's spiritual leader, ayatollah khomeini is calling on the country's military guard to mass produce missiles. his comments come ahead of international nuclear disarmament talks this week. this u.s. and its allies are worried the missiles could eventually be equipped with nuclear warheads in nigeria, church gores have been holding prayers for the 276 school girls

being held by the islamist group. it's now almost a month since their kidnapping and the government has been chrised for its slow response. >> they're not giving up hope for the abducted school girls. nigerians gathered in churches to pray for their safe return. some young women who managed to escape the kidnappers have been talking about their experience. they gave a harrowing account of their ordeal. >> when we got to the boats they asked us to get out of the cars. i told my friends it's better to be killed than to be taken to a place we didn't know. we got out and started running. >> about 256 girls are still missing and believed to be in e hands of the radical his

ma'amist -- his -- islamist group. >> we agreed to seventh a team to work alongside the bigger american team that is going out there and we stand ready to do anything more than the nigerians would want. >> a small comfort for the people here but they say they don't back down until all the girls have been brought back safe live. >> sports news, starting with formula one. there seems to be no serious rival to the mercedes camp. the team's drivers roared to yet another 1-2 victory in sunday's spanish grand prix. >> once again mercedes was unstoppable. lewis hatchellle on the raced to his fourth victory in a row and his teammate took second place for the fourth consecutive time. the two dominated the race from the start. hamilton began in pole position

and never relinquished his lead. together, team mercedes left the competition behind. rudd bull's rirkedo claimed the third spot. was his first-ever podium finish and he finished ahead of the defending world champ, who came from the back of the back to grab fourth. the spaniard could only grab sixth. mercedes has won every race of the season so far. barcelona was no exception. >> to the bonus league and one of the biggest surprises of the season. tiny second-tier club has earned promotion to the first division for the first time in the club's history. their 2-1 written secured second place in the standings. what makes the feat all the more

outstanding is that the team has an operating budget of just 6 million euros and its stadium seats only 15,000 fans. while the first division wrapped up play on saturday except for one team. hamburg has a last chance to have a happy ending to a nightmare season but their last regular match didn't give their fans much reason for hope. >> it was hamburg's fifth straight defeat and the defense will have to improve to avoid relegation. minx had hamburg on the ropes from the get . a goal just seven minutes into the encounter. but hamburg had some aggressive play of its own. the striker qualingsed if. visitors. the second half, they again

capitalized on hamburg's sluggish defense. the hosts had a 2-1 lead. then they sealed the victory. hamburg did get a second goal. still that wasn't enough. they now face a relegation double-header. >> we're happy to have two more chances to avoid relegation but we're unhappy with this defeat. winning the two relegation matches would make up for a bad season. >> despite the win, the coach later confirmed rumors that he was leaving the club one year before his contract runs out. >> the first-ever cliff diving world series has kicked off in cuba, and a british diver has won the first event. the historic castle was the setting as 14 of the world's best jumped from a 27-meter platform. blake aldrich took the honors in

the opening jump. the series will continue for months, ending in october after competitions in the u.s., ireland, norway, and spain. well, the winner of a very different competition has returned to a ram courthouse reception in her native austria. nchita wurst won this year's european song contest. the breerd bearded drang competed from others from 25 countries. her victory is being hailed as a triumph for tolerance. >> the phoenix has landed. hundreds of fans gathered to welcome back this your's winner, wurst. people the word over are celebrating the drag queen's victory and i think so persuasional message, to be true for yourself. >> yesterday wasn't just a

victory for me but a victory for everyone who believes in a future without discrimination. >> ♪ >> the winning ballad was an nthem about overcoming problems. she's a popular ambassador for equality and freedom. dutch country duo grabbed second with their duet "calm after the storm." third place went to a swedish inger for her song "undo." german band elisia grabbed the "is itot with a pop song right." but it was conchita that

inspired europe on saturday with talent and a message of erseverance. >> you're watching dw. tay where you say. >> at the start of the week there were heavy clashes in the astern ukrainian city of luhansk. the army moved in to retake the city. with both sides armed with heavy weapons, the fighting lasted for hours. the clashes left 30 separatists dead. four government soldiers were also killed. in the end, government troops were unable to retake the city.

>> ukrainian soldiers cannot shoot at civilians. this is our limitation, which ur enmay is making f.a.a. full use of. our enemy is hiding behind civilians and shooting at us. >> the situation in ukraine remains tenls. then on wednesday, there was a change of tone from moscow. after talks, president putin urged ukrainian rebels to delay a planned re-- secession vote. >> we are requesting that representatives of ukrainian southeast delay the referendum planned for may 11. >> putin also voiced support for presidential elections scheduled for may 25 in ukraine, calling them a step in the right direction. collection -- elections that moscow had previously described as absurd.

on the ground, putin's words appeared to make little difference. the rebels said they would go ahead with their vote. >> egypt's army chief appeared on a television show on monday evening as he prepares to run in the country's presidential election. when one of the hosts asked if the brother hood would cease to exist if he became president, the response was swifflet. he acknowledged that there have been human rights violations but said that was inevitable in the fight against terror. if elected he said he'd be his own man. many egyptians hope that he'll bring stability. the elections are just over two weeks' time with little doubt about who will win. > the german art collector who

secretly hoarded a collection of nazi collected paintings suddenly died this week. he was a shy and reclusive man catapulted into the spotlight like a tax investigation. authorities made a discovers that shook the art world. more than 1,400 paintsings were found, including masterpieces that had been lost for decades. gullitt inharrieted them from his father, an art collector for adolf hitler. authorities confiscated the art work and launched an investigation. to month gurlitt agreed hand back works if they could be proved they were stolen. he bequeathed the entire collection to an art museum in switzerland. >> the u.n. secretary general

was in south sudan on tuesday in a bid to bring the two warring factions tockets. the goal, to avert possible genocide. the war pits supporters of the president against those of his former deputy. >> we hope that the peace will be regained as soon as possible. at the same time, i'm urging the the military units to fully protect the swivelian pop lakes -- population. >> more than four months of fighting has left thousands dead and amnesty international described both sides of human rights violation. they agreed to meet face to face

for peace talks in ethiopia at the end of the week. the result was a peace deal. the question is will it hold? >> thailand's prime minister was forced to step down on ednesday, throwing the country into further political upheaval. in a ruling broadcast live to the nation, the constitutional court ordered her and nine of her ministers out of office on charges of abuse of power. she denied all wrongdoing. >> we hold truth to the principles and never acted corruptly as we were accused. >> the former commerce minister was appointmented caretaker prime minister. the opoint celebrated the ruling as an initial victory but protests are continuing with

demonstrators demanding the complete removal of the government and fundamental reforms before new election are held. she is mainly supported in the east and north of thailand. those supporters are taking to the streets, stoking fares of further violence between the rival factions. >> huge crowds turned out to vote in south africa's landmark general election on wednesday. the poll was seen as a litmus test for the governing international congress and its leader. >> i think the results will be very good. >> he wasn't wrong. the a.f.c. won convincingly, garnering 62% of the vote and giving zuma a second five-year term as president. it was the first general election in which south africa's post apartheid generation was

eligible to vote. many are critical of the government citing high unemployment, a huge divide between rich and poor and allegations of wild spread corruption. the main opposition democratic alliance has homed to capitalize. the up from 16% to 24% but electorate as a whole has not lost faith in the a.f.c. >> syrian rebels withdrew from the central city ending a siege that had lasted two years. under assad, the rebels were given safe passage. three years ago the streets were full of anti-assad demonstrators. now it's a ghost town. it was often called the capital of the revolution and the withdrawal was seen as a victory

for the government. they were cut off from the outside world with noack sells to food or medicine. but elsewhere, the fighting rages on. the carlton hotel in aleppo was blasted out of existence on thursday. the hotel was being used as an army base by government forces. reports say the militants tunneled under the front lionel to place explosives under the building. >> conscious grew this week over the fate of more than 200 school girls kidnapped in nigh jeer i-a. the parents of the children gathered at the school where their daughters were taken. calls for action has come from around the world. america's first lady, michelle obama, was one of those to express her support online. more and more countries have offered to help with the search. the country's president used an

economic summit to express his gratitude. >> the government of the united states of america, the united ingdom [inaudible] >> a clear message to the group who claimed responsibility for the kidnapping earlier in the week. the group's leader threatened to sell the girls into slavery. demonstrators have turned out every day in nigeria, calling on the government to do more to ensure the girls' state return. >> often on thursday, germany's soccer coach unveiled the provisional scattered for this year's world cup in brazil. 18-year-old maximillian meyer,

22-year-old eric durham and the captain of germany's under 21 team kevin fralen. deara is ins sonny despite a long absence due to injury. but the striker has been sidelined, also out injured. not all of those names will be going to brazil. he can only take 23 of the 30 for his final word cup squad. >> vladimir putin was in crimea on friday to oversee the black sea fleet's world war ii victory celebration. it was his first visit to the territory since russia exited two months ago. crimea is russia, said the

president. >> i am sure that the year 2014 will go down as the year the people who live here took the conscious decision to live and remain a part of russia. >> earlier, moscow staged one of i9s biggest military parades ever to mark victory day. putin resided over the event in the russian capital. it was a demonstration of moscow's military might and a message to the west that russia will not be pushed around. in eastern ukraine, meanwhile, the unrest continues. perot russian separatists clashed with you cranian soldiers and -- in some of the fiercest fighting the region has seen. a number of separatists were killed trying to hold on to police headquarters in the city. >> at the end of the week, all eyes in italy turned to a care center for the elderly new

milan. new team member bell yanni arrived for his shift. he was